Donington Collection [merged]

I paid a visit to the Museum several days ago. I read on another thread that some of the cars had disappeared and was frankly amazed at the apparent carnage. As far as I can recall, the long standing exhibits now absent include the '62 Cooper and Flat 8 Porsche; Lotus 25; the 66 Eagle Climax and '66 Brabham, The ex Wheatcroft Brabham BT 26; Lotus 72; McLaren M7A; 250F Maserati and the 71 Tyrrell. In their place now stand a Mercedes Gullwing; C Tye Jaguar and such single seaters as the surviving Williams De Tomaso and a Formula 2 Matra. Presumably none of this will have anything to do with the track itself and its current difficulties so whither have the absentees gone and as our Colonial cousins might put it, what gives with regard to the future? Care to comment Doug?

I paid a visit to the Museum several days ago. I read on another thread that some of the cars had disappeared and was frankly amazed at the apparent carnage. As far as I can recall, the long standing exhibits now absent include the '62 Cooper and Flat 8 Porsche; Lotus 25; the 66 Eagle Climax and '66 Brabham, The ex Wheatcroft Brabham BT 26; Lotus 72; McLaren M7A; 250F Maserati and the 71 Tyrrell. In their place now stand a Mercedes Gullwing; C Tye Jaguar and such single seaters as the surviving Williams De Tomaso and a Formula 2 Matra. Presumably none of this will have anything to do with the track itself and its current difficulties so whither have the absentees gone and as our Colonial cousins might put it, what gives with regard to the future? Care to comment Doug?

I have read elsewhere that there is some culling of the collection going on. Hall & Hall are selling off some cars for them. For example, I understand that the Porsche 804 has been sold to a private collector.
Tom

I have read elsewhere that there is some culling of the collection going on. Hall & Hall are selling off some cars for them. For example, I understand that the Porsche 804 has been sold to a private collector.Tom

Anyone know if the Lotus 16 ( #363) is still there? I have found photos on Flickr showing it in New Zealand in August.

Doug will know far more than me but a couple of months ago nine (I think, maybe eight) cars were loaned to a display in Australia (possibly New Zealand) and six were sold but the cars on display do change around, especially as a lot of them are running machines, they go off for events (even Old Nail came out for the BTCC-finale!!), need re-building etc.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if there was the odd car (or transporter) in the collection that has never even been on display.

When Tom Wheatcroft wrote `Thunder in the Park` the last chapter mentions a lot about what was in store for the Collection. From what I can gather, it is completely a seperate entity to the track, which may yet come back under the control of Wheatcorft & Sons. Kevin was toying with the idea of extending the building to house his rather large collection of Military vehicles. That would be something! Also the fact that some `culling` might have taken place, I am under the impression that certain exhibits are loaned out and borrowed between various museums and also undergo resto/service at certain times. I really cannot imagine the collection closing, it is a must see for anyone, even just once if not interested in Motor Racing.

A TNFer was heavily involved with the F1 show at Te Papa (NZ national museum) a few months agoI'll make sure he sees the thread...

G'day David,

If you mean Lotus 16 #366 I believe it's now in the Barber Museum to the best of my knowledge.

As someone with an interest in 250Fs, can you confirm the Wheatcroft car #2515 is now in the USA? It was on display at Pebble Beach earlier this year, in the ownership of an Arizona collector who has a good number of serious Masers.

Looks to be well worth a visit. The Lotus 16 looks much as I recall the Donington car - albeit a bit shinier!

Are we getting confused here? The Barber car is the ex DD car, as mentioned above. The Donington car is easily identified : it's the only 16 with "Vanwall holes " in the panel behind the driver's head.

I tried to get a thread going about the Barber museum yonks ago, but it kept falling off the bottom...

The Donington display is changed fairly regularly AFAIK, but there are constants like the McLaren hall, the Roger Williamson display etc. Just make sure you look in all the nooks and crannies - it's amazing what you'll find!

As to public transport: cheapest would be by coach, but the timetables don't mesh very well and the quickest journey is 4 hours 20 minutes! Rail is your best option: Cambridge to East Midlands Parkway. There's an hourly service from Cambridge to Leicester, but then you have a 40 minute wait for your connecting train - total journey time 2hrs 45 min. There are regular bus services from the Parkway station to East Midlands Airport, which is only a 5-10 minute walk from Donington Park: I think there's also a local bus service which stops at the entrance to Donington. Return journey by rail is slightly quicker.

As to public transport: cheapest would be by coach, but the timetables don't mesh very well and the quickest journey is 4 hours 20 minutes! Rail is your best option: Cambridge to East Midlands Parkway. There's an hourly service from Cambridge to Leicester, but then you have a 40 minute wait for your connecting train - total journey time 2hrs 45 min. There are regular bus services from the Parkway station to East Midlands Airport, which is only a 5-10 minute walk from Donington Park: I think there's also a local bus service which stops at the entrance to Donington. Return journey by rail is slightly quicker.

The half-hourly bus service from East Midlands Parkway to East Midlands Airport was withdrawn about three weeks ago due to funding ceasing from the local authorities. You can, however, pre-book a taxi at £3.00 for the same journey. Just ask when you book your rail fare. The alternative is to go via Derby and then connect with the half-hourly Skylink bus from Derby Station. This service goes past the main entrance to Donington Park.

Despite comments on various sites and threads in Autosport`s forums, the Donington Collection remains one of the best value for money places to visit in the motorsport world. Yes, some of the cars are either being sold or temporarily loaned (even some going for routine maintenance) which explains some of the missing exhibits. The Mclaren Hall and the Donington exhibition as well as hidden gems within the whole collection are something else!! You will not be disappointed by a visit and all the staff remain in good spirit and are very friendly despite the current situation concerning the circuit which has no bearing on the Collection and shop/cafe (some folk are putting the whole place under the same umbrella!! )....KM

Called in two weeks ago, as I do when driving past the area, and was very disappointed this time, first exhibition hall almost empty and all the Williams gone.

So I hope they manage to fill it again soon.

From what I have gathered elsewhere buddy, the Williams cars were taken away from the collection when DP (circuit) went into administration and there was an element of doubt about the contents of the Collection. There was word to say that the Williams cars that disappeared would more than likely be going back when things looked better all round. I could be wrong but hope I am not because bothe the Mclaren and Williams collection of cars looked good in there....KM

From what I have gathered elsewhere buddy, the Williams cars were taken away from the collection when DP (circuit) went into administration and there was an element of doubt about the contents of the Collection. There was word to say that the Williams cars that disappeared would more than likely be going back when things looked better all round. I could be wrong but hope I am not because bothe the Mclaren and Williams collection of cars looked good in there....KM

Plenty of Williams cars to be seen when I visited yesterday. In fact the place seems reasonably full now, despite the depletion. Pity you have to be confused by all the military stuff when you enter. It will be interesting to some, but I think it would have been better separated somehow.

Plenty of Williams cars to be seen when I visited yesterday. In fact the place seems reasonably full now, despite the depletion. Pity you have to be confused by all the military stuff when you enter. It will be interesting to some, but I think it would have been better separated somehow.

At Retromobile in Paris I see each year one or more cars from the collection. And they seem not to return: like the Ferrari 312B for instance.

Plenty of Williams cars to be seen when I visited yesterday. In fact the place seems reasonably full now, despite the depletion. Pity you have to be confused by all the military stuff when you enter. It will be interesting to some, but I think it would have been better separated somehow.

How I remember the collection..... Maurice Bruton's pics from some years ago........

A while since I was on !! The Williams cars and I think the McLaren cars, are loaned to the Collection and return to their respective bases on occasion for a check up . When full rows of cars disappear it causes some folk to think the worst . In the case of certain rare models that have gone in recent times, the owners do sometimes have to sell them and that`s the last we see of them in the Collection . Next time we see them could be on track!!
I do know that Abba Kogan and Nico Bindels have most of their cars looked after by Hall & Hall who are regularly at Donington to `service` certain cars or take them on track. Their cars are kept at the Collection for people to look at whilst not on track. The cars `breathe` when stood still and that explains the lovely smell of engines we get in the Collection .
As ever guys, I stand tall to be corrected on this matter and hope I have cleared some questions up there . The Military stuff at the start of the Collection will be the various items that Kevin has brought out of mothballing for people to look at . I am led to believe there is a massive collection worldwide of Kevin`s Militaria and the bits at DP don`t even scratch the surface!!

I do know that Abba Kogan and Nico Bindels have most of their cars looked after by Hall & Hall who are regularly at Donington to `service` certain cars or take them on track. Their cars are kept at the Collection for people to look at whilst not on track.

The collection is a very poor shadow of its former self, it has increasingly saddened me on successive visits in the last two or three years. I also treasure my memory of the first time I saw the collection twenty plus years ago.David

I thought that John-W's fantastic photos from the "...Paddock" thread merited a place here, too:

What's happened to the Donington Collection? Popped in the other day with one of the sprogs when passing on the way t'North and found it very changed to how I remember it just 5 or 6 years ago. Noticed immediately a few of the 'headline' cars I remember from back then were no longer there (or maybe not on display for some reason), then later it dawned on me that almost ALL the lotuses had gone. Are they out on loan somewhere, or have they been sold to finance something or other?

There has been a lot of discussion in various threads about the thinning out of the collection over the last two or three years, Tokyo. This thread might help to explain...http://forums.autosp...n/#entry6039864A number of the cars which have been sold can now be seen out in historic racing

Thank you Alan. I did do a quick search for 'Donington Collection' before posting, but so many results came up across loads of threads I didn't have time to dig in to it all. Thanks for highlighting the particular thread to look at.

It is a pity what's happened, but I guess things can't stay the same indefinitely...

Thinking about it, it's more like 9 or 10 years since I was last there. I'm glad I wasn't wrong to experience a disconcerting 'I was sure there was much more than this last time' feeling when walking around, and that other people feel the same way. Had I known, I would have made much more of an effort to visit more often.

PS. Don't want to give anyone the impression that the collection is rubbish or not worth a visit if they have time on their hands when in the area or passing by. Still a lot of very tasty machinery, just 'watered down' from the way I'd remembered it. (How the hall-and-a-half of military stuff fits in though, I find quite mystifying.)

Edit: Forgot to add that it appears half the cars in the brochure you're given when you pay the entry fee are no longer there, which is really something they need to look into - would be better and more honest to just hand over a cheapo photocopied list of what IS still in there.

It would appear that the Collection has always had several cars on loan, notably from Hall & Hall, and that some of the cars have indeed been sold on including the Scarab #3, due to be demonstrated at Castle Combe on Sunday, and the Lotus 25 thought to be 'R7' which Doug has subsequently shown in Motorsport to be Lotus 33 Mk II 'R13'.

After my visit I left feeling I wished they'd put a bit less on show so they could do a better job of displaying the wonderful cars they had. The cars were so tightly packed, poorly lit, with big information signs plonked in front. The cars deserve better! Perhaps they'll be able to do that now? No harm in having a few in storage or out on loan - having the displays changing would keep it fresh and give a reason for return visits.